Layers
by web of light
Summary: A series of vignettes about Chakotay's journey toward friendship with Tom Paris.
1. Chapter 1

The bar was quiet. The emptiness of the place took him by surprise. If he hadn't been given specific directions he would not have known it was here. He had to go down a few steps below street level and enter through a curtained doorway. The other establishments in the district were alive with noise and activity but this was a place set apart.

He recognized him immediately. Sitting down at the edge of the bar staring into a glass the young man might have been handsome if he didn't have a look of complete dissolution about him. Chakotay sat a few seats away and ordered a Terillian ale. The young man looked up catching Chakotay's eyes.

"Tom Paris?" Chakotay asked.

"It's me. And you are Chakotay. I know who you are and I know what you do. I'm here. What do you want?"

"I heard you were a decent pilot."

Paris took a long drink and turned to look at him.

"I am. Haven't flown for a while but that doesn't matter. I'm that good." he said. Chakotay didn't know if he was being serious or if it was the drink talking.

"We could use a good pilot, if you're interested."

"Oh I'm interested. The problem is that in this particular sector they still use currency and what I need…"

"You'll be compensated for your time."

Paris took another long drink.

"Just so we're clear. I know all about your cause. I'm not unsympathetic and right now I hate Starfleet and all it stands for but at the same time…"

"We don't need your unwavering loyalty. What we need is someone to get us safely from point A to point B."

"How about we go on a trial run?"

Paris' skills had been under reported. He skipped through the nearby asteroid field swerving expertly where he needed to without causing fear or discomfort. There were no sudden stops, no hesitation, no second guessing. Chakotay had always dismissed stories about pilots who were 'one' with the ship but he would no longer. Paris was the pilot they needed.

He woke to the sound of fighting. Years of working on a star ship had acclimated him to being ready to fight at a moment's notice but then he realized he wasn't on the ship. He was in his bed back at their base and the fighting was a brawl.

Pushing his way through to the center of the crowd he saw his friend Dalby on the ground with Paris standing over him. Paris turned to face him. A bruise was already beginning to form around one eye and his lip was cut.

"What happened?" Chakotay asked. He was getting tired of this. Tom Paris had gotten them out of more than one desperate situation in space but he had brought chaos on the ground.

"Nothing. Just a misunderstanding." He said. He pushed back through the crowd without speaking another word. Chakotay cursed the day he had asked the man to join them. If he wasn't such a good pilot Chakotay would have sent him on his way without a second thought but they needed him.

Time passed and things did not improve. Chakotay sent him out alone on a high risk mission. He never came back.

No one missed him. The routine of the camp went back to normal. Chakotay heard later that he had been caught and was now in a Federation prison. There was justice in the world because Paris was a worthless individual with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello Harry." He said. Harry put down his glass and started to stand up but Chakotay motioned him back down.

"Commander." He said.

"Let's forget the formalities for a bit. I just want to see how you're doing. You adjusting to our life now?"

"I think so sir. It was hard the first couple of weeks but if it hadn't been for Tom and…"

That was an easy opening.

"Yes. Paris. I'm sure you know his history and I'm not exactly sure why he picked up to be his friend but…."

"He didn't. It was the other way around. It was my decision."

"Your decision?" Chakotay said. He sighed inwardly. He highly doubted that.

"He saved me from making a fool of myself on DS9 with that Ferengi Quark. Came on board with me and stayed with me while we checked in. I noticed some of the other officers were...kind of rude toward him. Cavitt and the original Doctor told me about it but then I wanted to hear his side of it."

"He told you? Everything?"

"Yes sir. He told me himself. Sat right where you are sitting and told me the whole thing. I was impressed."

"Impressed?" Chakotay wasn't sure he had heard him correctly.

"Not by what he did of course but because he told it straight. Made no excuses. Didn't blame anyone else. He even told me to stay away from him, that he wasn't 'exactly a 'good luck charm'."

"That's putting it mildly."

"I think he has that attitude because no one has tried to be his friend. I mean really tried. I decided I'd be the one. Do you think he's been a bad influence on me sir? Am I shirking in my duty in anyway? Failing to…"

"No Harry. You're fine. I just wanted to make sure…"

"It's good. It's as good as it can be under the circumstances. Tom's just... being my friend. He looks out for me and I think...he needs someone to look out for him although he would never admit it. You're...not going to order me to stay away from him or anything are you?" Harry asked. There was a slight hint of fear in his voice.

"No Harry. As long as you do your duty and he does his, then there is nothing to worry about."

Harry's eyes expressed his relief.

"I'll see you on the bridge."

"Yes Commander."

Something peeled away. A slight layer from Paris' hard shell or was it his own attitude?


	3. Chapter 3

B'Elanna." He said sitting down across from her. The mess hall was nearly empty.

"Hello Chakotay."

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. It's been two weeks."

"I'm better. It was hard when the Doctor put the Klingon DNA back where it belongs but I've accepted it."

"Odd to see your change of attitude toward Paris. I thought you didn't like him."

"Oh I didn't. I could barely stand to be in the same room with him. I remember what he was like. I believed everything everyone told me about him. I thought Harry was crazy for hanging around him but the thing is...I never really took the trouble to get to know him. When we were in that prison they came to get Durst and he demanded to be allowed to go with him, knowing that they would take his organs, just like they did to Durst. It was one of the bravest things I've ever seen anyone do. I knew right then he was no coward. To be honest Chakotay...There were times when I don't know how else I would have held it together in that place if hadn't been for him."

"I see."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I admit I'm having a hard time with this. I just remember how he was when we first met him."

"I've been thinking about that a lot. I think the Tom Paris we first met was a man at the absolute lowest point of his life. If you had met me back when I first left the Academy...well let's just say you wouldn't have recruited me. You would have run away as fast and as far as possible. I don't think we ever knew the real Tom at all. I think we were wrong about him. But, for better or worse, we're friends now. "

Another layer started to peel away.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't understand Neelix. I don't understand him at all." Chakotay said. "It wasn't that long ago that he was jealous of Paris, for good reason. I saw the way he was moving in on Kes and now Neelix is writing tributes to him?"

"They settled their differences and became friends." said Captain Janeway.

"I know this must hurt because you put so much faith in him but deep down I knew he hadn't changed. He's the same old Paris that he has always been."

"I suppose you're right." The Captain said.

Chakotay was surprised at how disappointed he felt. He was almost starting to like the guy.

He stood in front of him, his uniform clean and pressed, his unruly hair tamed. He was as tense as Harry Kim had been during his first weeks on the bridge. A sharp memory surfaced. Paris sitting in a bar, unshaven, his hair long and unruly, his eyes bleary with drink. What a contrast to the handsome young Starfleet officer standing before him. A long silence passed between them.

"At ease, Paris. I know you were under orders."

Paris' shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh.

"'I'm sorry Commander. I admit I thought it was crazy at first but the thing is...it worked. We found the traitor."

"Yes. We did. Did you have to act like you enjoyed it so much?"

A smile crossed his face. Chakotay noted that he had seen that a lot more of that lately and his smile was infectious.

"Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Of course?"

"Wouldn't you have enjoyed it if it was the other way around?"

He couldn't help himself. He imagined himself being ordered to push Paris around and abuse his position to make his life miserable.

"I admit I might have." He said. He smiled at his own thoughts. "Report to your post and we won't mention this again."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

Another layer gone.


	5. Chapter 5

"You might as well sit down. The Captain will get us out of this."

Chakotay chafed at Tom's words. A long time ago he had accepted that prison might be one of the end results when he joined the Maquis but he had done his best not to think about it. Now he was here in this too small cell on the crowded space station. He needed to think but the noise from the other inmates kept interrupting his thoughts.

"They have absolutely no evidence against us...all they have…" Chakotay began.

"We were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Something they've heard before and they'll pay just as much attention to you as they will to anyone else will which means...none at all."

"You're being awfully calm about this!" Chakotay snapped.

"There's not much point in getting worked up again it is there? And there's not much we can do from our end."

Chakotay gave up. He sat down beside Tom on the cell's only bunk.

"I'm sorry. I forgot. This must bring up old memories for you."

"Not really. Most of the times I was thrown in jail I was too drunk to remember anything. There was that one time when I woke up in the brig of the Federation vessel that captured me. There is nothing like that totally hopeless feeling that it's over. Being alone and friendless everyone against you, no one caring if you lived or died but this time is different.

"How so?"

Tom turned to look at him.

"This time I know there are people on the outside who believe in me enough to do everything they can to get me out of here."

Tom said those so casually. Chakotay's thoughts went back to those days. The relief he felt when he heard that Tom was in prison. How worthless he thought he was.

"The Captain got you out the first time."

"Yes she did and to this day I don't know why she did it. I didn't know where your hiding places were. I didn't know any details but there she was asking for my help. I didn't know it was possible to climb out of that hole I had dug for myself but somehow she knew. I know it sounds like something out of a song but she saw something in me that I didn't see in myself."

"I'm sorry Tom." Chakotay said

Tom turned to look at him, puzzlement on his face.

"For what?"

"For not...caring when I first met you. For just accepting you at face value and not looking deeper to find out why…"

Tom smiled.

"Don't worry about it. You had a resistance cell to run. Cardassians to fight. You couldn't take the time to psycho analysis every drifter that crossed your path."

Just like that. No grudges. Forgiveness despite the fact that everyone had underestimated him. Finally Chakotay was beginning to see the young man who had freed himself from the burden of bad attitude and cockiness. Chakotay felt his own prejudices continue to peel away.


	6. Chapter 6

He watched Tom and B'Elanna exit the holodeck. They were smiling. She had been holding Tom at arm's length but ever since the mission to the Sakari things had changed. She was seen in his company quite a lot. Tom walked away toward the bridge and B'Elanna was headed toward at turbolift. Acting on an impulse he caught up with her. He was a little concerned about the two of them but wasn't sure how to calm his own misgivings without giving offense.

"Care to share the ride?" he asked. She smiled as she nodded her assent as they entered the lift together.

"So you and Tom have been seeing quite a bit of each other lately. I thought you said you didn't want to be just another name on his list."

"That's what I thought it was at first. Who could blame me but...the truth is…" She hesitated as if she wasn't sure if she would proceed. "Computer, Halt Turbolift." She turned to Chakotay and lowered her voice.

"You're my friend and I know why you are asking. You're concerned about me so I'm going to tell you something that I haven't shared with anyone. When I was crazy with that horrible Pon Farr, when we were alone in the caves I thought Tom would be an easy mark. Not be hard to get...but the thing is...he turned me down. Said no."

"He did?"

"Yes! Said he wasn't going to do this when my judgement was clearly impaired. He was interested in me but he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. The only reason he finally agreed is when he thought I was going to die. That was when I realized...he truly is a good guy and if he is willing to give me a chance with all my problems then...I'll give him the same chance. I don't know what will happen and it's a bit scary but the truth is...I do like being with him. He really is a good guy Chakotay.' She said. She looked happy. "Computer. Resume."

"Thank you for letting me know." Chakotay said. "It seems you are going into this with your eyes wide open. I honestly hope it works out. "

She exited when they got to Engineering. He was honored that she felt close enough to him to share what was going on in her life with him but her story only affirmed something he had found out for himself over the time they had spent on Voyager. All the misconceptions and half-truths were scraped away to the core. He had long ago accepted the truth.

"I agree B'Elanna." He said to himself as the lift took off. "Tom is a good guy."


End file.
